The wait is over.

Seriously beautiful instrument, the granddaddy of guitars along with the 512. Boy that maple is absolutely stunning. Enjoy!

Here's SRV manhandling an earlier version F412, try to listen to it on good speakers to pick up on the highs and lows of the Guild:



I wish I could play those without pain in my fretting hand; their necks are too wide for me. That's why I parted with my F512. SRV's fingers are like 9 inches long...

Beautiful guitar! Jumbo maple is where it's at. Congratulations & enjoy.

dreadnut said:

Seriously beautiful instrument, the granddaddy of guitars along with the 512. Boy that maple is absolutely stunning. Enjoy!

Here's SRV manhandling an earlier version F412, try to listen to it on good speakers to pick up on the highs and lows of the Guild:



I wish I could play those without pain in my fretting hand; their necks are too wide for me. That's why I parted with my F512. SRV's fingers are like 9 inches long...

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Oh, yeah...... baby!!!!!!

I think the date of 26-7-19 indicates that the box was reused because that way of writing a date is not used in the US. It would be 7-26-19. Iy msy have been for a shipment originally from China or Korea.

Guitar serial number is C194343 therefore I assume it´s also from 2019...or am I mistaken?

Budha said:

Does your F412 have these little braces around the sound hole? There are two of these braces on my F512. One is on the treble side of the sound hole the other is on the bridge side of the sound hole. I not ever seen braces like this around the sound hole of any other guitar I have owned.

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Mine has these "wings"...also my BR Rico BR-30 used to have them. Generally speaking the bracing looks much lighter than the thick bars of the JF30-12.

The discussion on bracing is very important as they define the sound of a guitar, I wish Guild could post the different bracing patterns like Ovation used to and also Gibson recently...there is a very good video on youtube comparing the bracing of the J45 with the Southern Jumbo and it explains why two guitars relatively similar sound so different, one feminine and one masculine.

I am a little surprised by the combo red spruce spracing and sitka top...I never heard about it before.

Wulfthar said:

Guitar serial number is C194343 therefore I assume it´s also from 2019...or am I mistaken?



Mine has these "wings"...also my BR Rico BR-30 used to have them. Generally speaking the bracing looks much lighter than the thick bars of the JF30-12.

The discussion on bracing is very important as they define the sound of a guitar, I wish Guild could post the different bracing patterns like Ovation used to and also Gibson recently...there is a very good video on youtube comparing the bracing of the J45 with the Southern Jumbo and it explains why two guitars relatively similar sound so different, one feminine and one masculine.

I am a little surprised by the combo red spruce spracing and sitka top...I never heard about it before.

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The spec information I have about the adirondack red spruce came from the new F512 spec sheet on the Sweetwater site where I ordered my F512.

Budha said:

The spec information I have about the adirondack red spruce came from the new F512 spec sheet on the Sweetwater site where I ordered my F512.

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Budha not sure if you're responding to my post about the topwood of the Oxnard (or any) F512, but no snark intended, Sweetwater doesn't always get it right. Best to go to the source.

And I count it as a good thing that you made me look. Even after 20 years Guild still surprises me, especially Oxnard, and I forget stuff, too.

Wulfthar said:

I am a little surprised by the combo red spruce bracing and sitka top...I never heard about it before.

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Reason is that red spruce/adi is stronger than sitka by weight, particularly in longitudinal (along the grain) stiffness. So adi braces can be thinner/lighter but still as strong as a heavier sitka brace. Presto, less top mass and better resonance.

adorshki said:

Budha not sure if you're responding to my post about the topwood of the Oxnard (or any) F512, but no snark intended, Sweetwater doesn't always get it right. Best to go to the source.

And I count it as a good thing that you made me look. Even after 20 years Guild still surprises me, especially Oxnard, and I forget stuff, too.


Reason is that red spruce/adi is stronger than sitka by weight, particularly in longitudinal (along the grain) stiffness. So adi braces can be thinner/lighter but still as strong as a heavier sitka brace. Presto, less top mass and better resonance.

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Thank you for the info. I am enjoying the discussion. The reason for my previous post was to make sure I explained my brace spec information came from Sweetwater and not from the Guild site.

Budha said:

Thank you for the info. I am enjoying the discussion. The reason for my previous post was to make sure I explained my brace spec information came from Sweetwater and not from the Guild site.

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Right, got that, but wanted to give you the heads-up about Sweetwater who is generally well-respected. But everybody goofs once in a while. Even Guild in their own lit.

Budha said:

The spec information I have about the adirondack red spruce came from the new F512 spec sheet on the Sweetwater site where I ordered my F512.

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Bud, the red spruce bracing with the Sitka tops has been going on since the Tacoma-era (mid-2000s, that is). I'm pretty sure that in New Hartford they did red spruce bracing with all their guitars. I remember seeing them cut multiple braces at once in their CNC machine for a rough cut and then hand cutting/sanding as needed. Not sure if Oxnard is continuing with that. At one of our meets in NH I recall them saying that they could produce way more braces than they needed with this equipment, compared with the rest of things they did.

HMMOGG!!!
Paul

chazmo said:

Bud, the red spruce bracing with the Sitka tops has been going on since the Tacoma-era (mid-2000s, that is). I'm pretty sure that in New Hartford they did red spruce bracing with all their guitars. I remember seeing them cut multiple braces at once in their CNC machine for a rough cut and then hand cutting/sanding as needed. Not sure if Oxnard is continuing with that. At one of our meets in NH I recall them saying that they could produce way more braces than they needed with this equipment, compared with the rest of things they did.

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I used to have two CV-2Cs, great guitars, and the top was red spruce.

However, I wrote an email to participate to the new Guidl giveaway and found out that as I am not resident in the USA I am not qualified to get the picks and the tuner, even if it´s written anywhere.

I am not pleased by this, it appears Cordoba is treating us like bastard sons or something like that, getting a Guild in Europe is already difficult enough. It´s not a matter of getting a few euros tuners and twelve celluloids picks, it´s the attitude that is just sad and makes me wonder how far they will go as they are not interesting in becoming a global brand.

Rich Cohen said:

I think the date of 26-7-19 indicates that the box was reused because that way of writing a date is not used in the US. It would be 7-26-19.

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The way the 7 is written is also a European way with the dash in the middle. But it could be the "Inspection" is actually done by the European Guild Distributor after arrival in the European warehouse before they ship it to the various shops in Europe.

Wulfthar said:

Guitar serial number is C194343 therefore I assume it´s also from 2019...or am I mistaken

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Yes, that is a 2019 serial number.

Wulfthar said:

I am not pleased by this, it appears Cordoba is treating us like bastard sons or something like that, getting a Guild in Europe is already difficult enough. It´s not a matter of getting a few euros tuners and twelve celluloids picks, it´s the attitude that is just sad and makes me wonder how far they will go as they are not interesting in becoming a global brand.

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I don't think that is intentional by Guild as I have seen other manufacturers also exclude non-US residents in giveaways and raffles. There are often strict legal reasons behind those decissions.


Ralf

SFIV1967 said:

I don't think that is intentional by Guild as I have seen other manufacturers also exclude non-US residents in giveaways and raffles. There are often strict legal reasons behind those decissions.

Ralf

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Well, actually we cannot buy anything in their shop either. I already tried to get a T bird T shirt. If this is their policy it´s quite shortsigned at best. I wrote an email on the matter, no response yet.

Wulfthar said:

Well, actually we cannot buy anything in their shop either. I already tried to get a T bird T shirt. If this is their policy it´s quite shortsigned at best. I wrote an email on the matter, no response yet.

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You are entitled to your opinion and perhaps even your sense of persecution. But there are legal and regulatory reasons why US companies limit their sales from US outlets to US customers. There are costs associated with currency conversions when a customer uses a credit card and not all of those costs are paid by the customer. There are export restrictions that have to be complied with. While these can all be overcome by spending money how much profit will Guild make from additional overseas sales (of non guitars), compared to the cost of supporting them?

If it is any consolation there have been several times when I wanted to buy something from a store or manufacturer outside of the US and they refused to sell to me. Sometimes it was for the reasons I mentioned and at least once it was because the company was trying to negotiate an exclusive distribution deal with a US firm and selling to individuals in the USA undercut the sincerity of those negotiations.

I'd be willing to bet if you found an authorized Guild dealer in your country they could get you anything that Guild sells on the web to US customers.

And if you really have to have the shirt, perhaps someone in the US will order one for you and ship.

Wulfthar said:

If this is their policy it´s quite shortsigned at best.

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I don't think it has anything to do with not supporting customers outside the US, there seem to be certain legal reasons against it. The Guild shop is no Amazon....When the Guild shop opened you could order from Europe but that was cancelled later on. I believe it has to do with high shipping costs and all the added taxes which a shop in the US would have to unload on the (unhappy) buyer and also with return policies. Hence Guild (and I'd say most others) sell their parts only through regional distributors outside the US. However I have no idea who the European distributor for Guild currently is! Walter Broes might know.

Ralf

fronobulax said:

You are entitled to your opinion and perhaps even your sense of persecution. But there are legal and regulatory reasons why US companies limit their sales from US outlets to US customers. There are costs associated with currency conversions when a customer uses a credit card and not all of those costs are paid by the customer. There are export restrictions that have to be complied with. While these can all be overcome by spending money how much profit will Guild make from additional overseas sales (of non guitars), compared to the cost of supporting them?

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I don´t have these problems with other brands, just Guild.

And 90% of my gear, including more picks, pickups or entire instruments, come from shops overseas.

SFIV1967 said:

However I have no idea who the European distributor for Guild currently is! Walter Broes might know.

Ralf

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I don´t think they have an official distributor since the Fender times, that would explain the rarity of their guitars on the continent.

Wulfthar said:

I don´t have these problems with other brands, just Guild.

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Do other brands have their own shop in the US and sell to you or are you just talking buying in any guitar shop in the US? I have mostly no problem buying in any large shop in the US and getting the stuff over to Europe. Some shops just decline international shipments. Here we were talking buying directly from the Guild factory shop. I know the Martin 1833 shop in Nazerath is selling internationally, so yes, some guitar brands do.

Wulfthar said:

I don´t think they have an official distributor since the Fender times, that would explain the rarity of their guitars on the continent.

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In the UK it is Selectron (not to confuse with Solectron), and there is somebody for the continental Europe.
Honestly I see quite a lot in Germany of the new Oxnard built guitars.


According to this, their European hub is in the Netherlands:

And actually now I found the European Sales Manager, he is from Düsseldorf/Germany and used to work for FMIC in the past:

Ralf

Hello

I contacted Guild European rep in Netherlands few years back when Musikhaus Thomann quit OM-240CE for a while. They were very helpful. I never tried to get knobs, pickups or any other "small parts" via Thomann - but it certainly would not hurt to ask. But they keep more fantastic Guilds in stock than I'll ever have money for . . .

EDIT

p.s. it is driving me nuts every time - none of these pages ever have a date - since when is Ralf Benninghaus new Europe Sales Manager ???

Wulfthar said:

I don´t think they have an official distributor since the Fender times, that would explain the rarity of their guitars on the continent.

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There was a period of no official factory repair or support facilities even here in the US for a while during the ramping up of New Hartford, ca '10 I think. This was coincidental to Fender revamping its dealer network at the same time, so all of 'em had to decide if they still wanted to carry the brand, which Fender was explicitly trying to reposition into more boutique brick and mortar shops where the quality could be better demonstrated.

Suspect the European distribution suffered the same issues and perhaps the franchise does frequently change hands.

For me, the insult was the loss of true factory repair capability should I ever need to avail myself of it, nd my F65ce does qualify for a warranty bridge -reset, but that could entail patching potential finish damage, which isn't (or at least wasn't) available in CA due to air quality laws.

And then, go figure, within a couple of years they did an about-face and embraced the on-line sales model and it was easier to buy one on-line than to find one to play in a store.

Coupled with New Hartford's low production and no production for a couple of years following the Cordoba acquisition (and the turmoil in the dealer network associated with that move), is it any wonder things were even that much worse in Europe?

So don't feel slighted in Europe my friend, even us natives have suffered insult.